Thursday, July 26, 2012

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes- Foodnetwork.com

I had some buttermilk and some eggs that I wanted to get through and decided that blueberry pancakes would be a fun way to use some of it up. John's daycare is closed today and I knew we'd be home together and thought it'd be a fun way to start our day off. I googled blueberry buttermilk pancakes and the first 2 recipes that popped up both featured identical recipes and 5 stars each. Sold! That was easier than normal...

Last night I set out the unsalted butter to bring to room temperature and measured out the dry ingredients. It called for 2 cups of flour, 2 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp each of salt & baking powder, and 1/4 cup of sugar. I hate when pancakes are too sweet, so I was glad that it didn't call for more than that. I have a great mixing bowl with a lid, which is always perfect for storing things like this overnight.

Bright and early this morning, John woke me up and was excited for us to make pancakes! I'd like to say that we worked together magically today, but I was pretty tired and he... well, he's 4. And he asks questions. Lots and lots of questions, without waiting for answers or even breathing in between. Things like "why is this syrup". Huh? Because its syrup? It can be a little much when you're trying to cook and waiting for coffee to kick in. He adorably redeemed himself at one point by telling me how much he loves making pancakes with me and kissing me on the cheek. Then I stubbed my toe on his step stool and we were halfway back to square one.

As far as execution goes, things went pretty smoothly. I placed half the stick of softened butter in the microwave for 30 seconds and then let the melted butter cool. We poured 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 eggs into a bowl and whisked it up. Then John continued stirring while I added in the melted butter. Once it was all combined we slowly folded it in with the dry ingredients. You want your batter to be mixed just enough. Lumps are ok- they go away but if you stir too much your pancakes will be tough. I put the finished batter aside and got the skillet ready to go.

I turned both burners on the skillet to medium high and let them heat up. I showed John how you can test the heat by splashing a drop of water in the pan. You want the drop to dance before evaporating. If it goes away immediately, its too hot. If it stays a while, its not hot enough. Once it was ready I added a touch of the unsalted butter to the pan and spread it around to coat. Using the 1/4 measuring scoop, I poured a few heaping scoops on the pan. We topped each pancake with berries and let them cook until the bubbles popped; 2-3 minutes total. I flipped them and cooked for another 2 minutes and we were ready to go! The first batch cooked enough for us to eat then and I decided to wait until we were finished to cook the remaining pancakes.

They were perfect! The pancakes were light, fluffy, and about a 1/3 inch thick. The blueberries were sweet and tart and the texture was just right. Fantastic! The recipe made about a dozen pancakes. I let the remaining pancakes cool while spaced out on a plate and them froze them with a piece of wax paper between each pancake. This way, I can toast them up for John in the mornings next week!